CMS Volleyball Bounces Back for 3-1 Win over Cal Lutheran

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Coming off its first conference loss in over four years, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team dropped a tight first set to Cal Lutheran, but responded to dominate the final three sets and earn a 3-1 win over the Regals on Friday night at Roberts Pavilion.

Set scores were 23-25, 25-10, 25-19, 25-6 as the Athenas improve to 17-4 overall and 11-1 in SCIAC. CMS had a 59-match SCIAC win streak heading into the week, dating back to a 2019 loss to Chapman, but fell 3-1 to La Verne on Tuesday. 

Brooke McKee led CMS with 13 kills in 22 attempts and only one error, while Jenna Holmes had 12 kills and Brenna Bell and Audrey Sawyer each had 10. Dede Carranza had 20 digs for CMS, while Georgia McGovern had 44 assists and 10 digs. 

Cal Lutheran (9-15, 7-7 SCIAC) took advantage of a CMS team that was still finding its footing by winning the first set 25-23. The Regals jumped out to a 7-2 lead, before CMS pulled even on four occasions, the last at 15-15, but was never able to take the lead. Cal Lutheran used a 4-0 run to seize control, and led 24-21 before the Athenas fought off two set points on a Holmes kill and a block from Bell and Dani Beder, but Sadie Peete took advantage of the third attempt and gave the Regals the first set win with a kill. 

The Athenas got out front early in the second set, and then used a 5-0 run to turn an 11-7 lead into a comfortable 16-7 advantage, with Holmes recording two straight aces, and Bell capping it off with a kill and another block with Beder. A 6-0 run then pushed the lead to 22-8, with Carranza recording two straight aces, and Sawyer was able to finish off a 25-10 win with an unassisted kill off an overpass. 

The pivotal run of the match came in the third set, which saw both teams go back-and-forth until a 5-0 CMS run turned a 12-12 tie into a 17-12 lead. Bell had a kill and a block to start the run, and Carranza finished it with another ace. With the score 23-19, Bell had another kill-block sequence, combining with Beder for the block on set point to give CMS the 25-19 win and a 2-1 lead. 

The fourth set was Athena domination from the start, as CMS opened up with a 6-0 run, with McGovern picking up two aces and then assisting Beder to cap off the run. Cal Lutheran had the score at 9-4, but CMS used two more 6-0 runs to pull ahead 15-4 and 21-5, and then capped off the match with a 4-0 run to win it 25-6 on a Holmes kill. 

CMS will travel to Whittier tomorrow and then return home Tuesday for a 7 p.m. contest.